Man loses chappal, files police complaint; cops in Pune launch probe

PUNE: While many of us might have experienced a situation wherein police delay registering a genuine complaint of theft or robbery, Pune rural police have proved to be an exception to this.

Police found it serious enough to entertain a case of a missing sandal of a person.

In a quirky instance, Vishal Kalekar, a resident of Rakshewadi in Khed tehsil of Pune district, went to a police station on October 3 to report that his brand new sandal was stolen from outside his apartment and insisted on filing an FIR.

And Khed police registered a case of theft under section 379 of IPC against unidentified persons after the 36-year-old Kalekar insisted on doing so, a police official said.

Kalekar lives on the third floor of Palash Residency apartment on Takalkarwadi Road in Khed.

“We have registered an offence of theft in this case and our probe is on,” Pradeep Jadhav, inspector of Khed police station told PTI.

Asked whether he had faced such instances in the past, the official said one can’t say who will come with what type of complaint.

“As of now, we only can say that an offence of theft has been registered against unidentified persons and nobody has been arrested yet,” he said.

As per the complaint, the incident occurred in the early hours of October 3, between 3am and 8am, when some unidentified persons came inside the building and allegedly took away his new black sandal worth Rs 425, an official said.

After Kalekar approached police, on-duty officer YM Gaikwad registered an offence of theft and Kalekar was given a copy of the first information report (FIR).